 The Heat of the Land By Alla Ishchuck |
This summer was extremely hot in Crimea. The red soil cracked, and the bowels of the earth seemed to radiate ancient warmth from each fissure. The air dried and became dense. The sun turned into a scorching disc. It felt as if Mother Nature had been offended and cast an angry glance over the land. We who live now always want to be unique in everything, even in feelings and perceptions. But this is an eternal delusion. Thankfully, the earth, sun and sea usually forgive us ordinary mortals for our weakness and ignorance.
Invasion on the horizon
The sun burned with equal intensity over two thousand years ago. It was at this time, 513 BC, that a people called the Scythians inhabited southern Ukraine, and Persia's Darius I considered himself the ruler of Asia. He wanted to subjugate the whole world, with all its lands and peoples. Of course, he was not about to allow the proud, nomadic Scythians to get in his way - all the more as the lands they grazed presented strategic and economic opportunities for the Persians.
Even then, the southern shores of Ukraine thrived in trade, while attacks into territory controlled by the Persians invariably originated in the steppe. So Darius gathered his troops and set out on a campaign against these fierce warriors.
Herodotus wrote that Darius thoroughly prepared for his invasion of Scythian land. The father of history says that the Persian king had an army of 700,000 warriors and a fleet of 600,000 vessels. Even if these figures were exaggerated, which ancient authors tended to do in their estimations of an enemy's strength, it is safe to say that Darius's army was considerably bigger than the Scythians'. However, the nomads' military prowess was known far beyond the borders of the lands they occupied. Darius's commanders, advisors and allies tried to dissuade him from his plans, but the Persian king was firm in his decision.
He knew that he was in for a battle with an experienced enemy. The Scythians were not only tough but excellent strategists as well. So Darius collected as much information about his opponents' skill and resources as he could.
Scythian life consisted of one military campaign followed by another. They had conquered most of Asia themselves in the 7th century BC. Thus, their accumulated military experience was more than a match for Darius's amorphous horde. The Scythians knew how to choose their allies and how to adjust their tactics to specific enemies. They also had an impressive arsenal for their time. As archers, they were considered the best of antiquity. And their cavalry was reputedly ten times the size of their infantry. The ancient world had never known such a force. Even Alexander the Great's army was only half mounted.
But Darius was not given the luxury of confronting the nomadic horsemen head on. The Scythians had prepared a different plan. They understood that the huge Persian army would have an advantage in such a confrontation. The difference in numbers was intensified by the reluctance of the Scythians' neighbors to join forces against the eastern invaders.
On the surface, it looked like the ancient steppe warriors were doomed to be annihilated or enslaved by the great Darius. But the Scythians were born warriors. Even their women were highly trained in the martial arts, fighting alongside the men. At any rate, it would have been naive to expect the Scythians to yield without a serious fight.
Ancient guerilla warfare
The Scythians divided their army in two, and determined to wage a war of attrition. One part of the army hampered Darius's troop movements into the unprotected territories to the north, while the other half worked to wear the Persians down, while avoiding direct confrontation. The plan was to weaken the invaders slowly, frustrate their advance and undermine their resolve to fight.
The favored Scythian tactic was to launch lightening raids against the periphery of the Persians' formations and then retreat suddenly, provoking smaller numbers of Persian troops to give chase. As Darius's forces tread deeper into the Crimean steppe, the nomads conducted a slash and burn policy.
Not only did this deprive the foreign invaders of food and fodder, but a single spark was enough to set large tracts of dry grass aflame, creating a wall of fire before the advancing enemy. Disorder and panic spread quickly throughout the army under Darius's command. Communications were already strained due to its multi-ethnic composition and shear size.
Losing great numbers of troops to the fires, the Persians began to fear the steppe. The dense black smoke disoriented their horses, which having thrown off their riders in despair then trampled them underfoot. Many soldiers were left lying wounded in the ensuing chaos to suffocate or be finished off later by Scythian patrols.
The retreating Scythians made sure to leave the Persians nothing to eat, trampling any crops that hadn't been burnt. First the invaders' horses and then the invaders themselves went hungry. The more their cavalry was reduced, the more vulnerable the Persians became to surprise attacks.
Darius's warriors were also parched with thirst, as they trekked across the peninsula's dry grass lands. The Scythians were diligent in filling up all the wells with sand and soil, sometimes even poisoning water holes. Without access to local food, livestock or water, the Persian army slowly but surely diminished without ever meeting their enemy in a major battle.
When the Scythians did attack, they preferred to suddenly shower their foes with arrows from a distance. Light and highly maneuverable, they could easily disappear into the landscape they knew so well. The effect of such tactics on the Persians was as psychologically harmful as it was militarily. The nomads were defeating the greatest army known to the world without incurring any significant losses themselves.
Pride and prophecies
He who controls the elements rules the world and the mysteries of existence and is therefore invincible, goes an ancient saying. The Scythians knew the secrets of fire, acting like its agents among the tall dry grass. As fierce as they were quick, the nomads showed no mercy to invaders.
Eventually, Darius was forced to seek negotiations with the Scythian king Idanfirs. He sent a messenger with a proposal that the Scythians either fight face to face or surrender. The reply he received was: "I have never fled with fear. We have neither cities nor cultivated lands. So we fear not their devastation. For this reason we did not immediately engage you. And we will not do so until we deem it fit. If you, Darius, are eager to fight, find our ancestors' sacred tombs and try to destroy them and you will see us in action."
The Scythians also sent a warning gift to the Persian king: a mouse, a frog, a bird and five arrows. One of Darius's experienced commanders explained the meaning behind the gifts: "Unless you fly into the sky like birds or jump into the marshes like frogs, or burrow in the earth like mice, you will find your death from these arrows."
Up until now the war had been a strange one for the Persians. His forces continued to grow weak, without having seen battle. The number of sick and wounded multiplied. There was no food and no water, but the earth lay burnt black and the sun scorched their heads from above. The Scythian horsemen seemed to appear from nowhere, and in a heartbeat they merged into the glaring rays of the daylight.
Finally Darius had to retreat - for the first time since the beginning of the campaign. When the Scythians finally went on the offensive, they found only wounded and ill at camps deserted by Darius.
So the nomadic warriors proved once again that they were the true masters of the steppe. Darius had been defeated by the children of the sun. To this day, Crimea's scorching rays, red soil and salty sea retain the memory of glorious battles. The sun-dried grass reminds us that the country's best protection is in its land, rather than the sometimes-vain illusions of we individuals who inhabit it.
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More in the section:
Anarchy's Son
Read also previous issue' articles:
A heat wave in Ukraine
"The Spirit of Hollybush" Comes to Donetsk
The new wave of Labor Migration
Home Discoveries
Asserting dignity
New Public Health for the New Ukraine
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